C. Edward Johnson

Age 94 of Saint Paul

Born August 14, 1918

Died June 30, 2013

Champion swimmer C. Eddie Johnson metaphorically swam his final race and died peacefully at home on June 30, with sons Bruce and Brian and daughter-in-law Marsha there to support him. Born in St. Paul on August 14, 1918 to Andrew and Edna Johnson, he was a life-long East Sider who learned to swim in Lake Phalen and competed for Johnson High School, class of 1937. His father was yardmaster with the Great Northern Railway, and Eddie loved his first job in public relations as passenger representative on the Empire Builder. He rode the route round-trip between Chicago and Seattle before enrolling at Gustavus Adolphus College in 1938. The war interrupted his education, and he served with the Army in Italy after teaching survival swimming at a base in Pecos, Texas. He returned to Gustavus after the war, swam for the Gusties, and graduated in 1946. Two years later he married fellow Gustavian Peggy Akerson. He was an alumni class agent, and together they attended every Gustavus Alumni Weekend for 57 years in a row. Just a month before he died, he lunched with a group of Gusties that included Nancy Nordlund and Evie Pearson with whom he had attended kindergarten at Phalen Park School.

After college, Eddie swam with U.S. Masters Swimming until the age of 90. As a writer and speaker, he was passionate about philanthropy, education, and the role of the church in the inner city. He never shied away from a microphone. Eddie worked in public relations with the Greater Minneapolis Council of Churches and later the Minnesota Community College System. Eddie and Peggy loved their gay son and were active members of P-FLAG. They proudly marched with the group in the Twin Cities Gay Pride Parade, stepping into the crowd to bestow hugs and handshakes. They instilled in both sons a love of travel, taking long road trips every summer, camping across the U.S. and Canada from Quebec to California and Key Largo to Vancouver. In 1959 they drove to Glacier Park packed into a VW bug. Each summer for 25 years Eddie and Peggy spent a week at the original Chautauqua in western New York. Both enjoyed entertaining at the cabin the family built together near Mahtowa on Park Lake. On his 93rd birthday, Eddie dove into that lake and showed his sons the rhythmic freestyle that brought him so much pleasure and earned him so many medals. As a dad, he was their champion in every sense of the word.

His family is deeply thankful for the loving support of the staff at Ecumen Lakeview Commons. He was preceded in death by his wife, Peggy, and siblings John, Jim, and Mary Jane. Those left to cherish his memory include sons Bruce and Brian, daughter-in-law Marsha Hunter, special family friend Mary Ellen Andersen, sixteen nieces and nephews and their children. Funeral service at 2:00 PM, Friday, July 12, House of Hope Presbyterian Church, Summit Avenue at Avon, St. Paul. The visitation begins at 12:30 in the Assembly Room. Hymn sing and hootenanny in the Kirk Parlor after the reception. Memorials preferred to Gustavus Adolphus College or donor’s choice.